Updates & More Photos (of course)

Ben is now moving fowards AND backwards in his walker. He's also rolling around everywhere including off the bed (he was fine, don't worry!). He's also in the process of sprouting 2 bottom teeth. It's been.. fun. Yea, we'll just go with that. He's sitting unassisted and pushing himself backwards while on the floor when he's not rolling around like a madman.

Here he is enjoying an empty pack of wipes:



Kids:



Charlotte enjoyed her very first bowling experience (duck pin bowling) at a friend's birthday party. Funny enough, she's a very gentle bowler and we had to tell her to throw/roll the ball harder than she was. Anyone who knows Char probably realizes how silly that is considering ;)



The norovirus has managed to hit us yet again and it always seems to hit us in February. Every year (minus last year). It was here and left pretty quickly, however. I had a minor case and Matt never really caught anything. We purchased a new car about a month ago which Matt is enjoying immensely. Especially since he's getting, on average, 40mpg.

Looking forward to seeing all of our cousins on Easter Sunday. I imagine there will be another update shortly after Easter with photos. :)

Siblings

It's so fun to watch the kids interact with one another. Charlotte is easy going and care-free while Ben is very serious. I think the above photo reflects their personalities pretty well. Below is just a short video I took of Ben in the walker.. going backwards ;)

Photo Update

First, Christmas!

Ben's first Christmas



Charlotte helped Grandma Kathy make cookies



I think she was having a good time :)



I don't know if Ben enjoyed being held by Char, but she's always eager to "hold Benny"







While we were down in TN it snowed a bunch in Indiana. Charlotte was thrilled



She even made her first snow angel :)



Ben's eating more and more foods every day and he's starting to sit up on his own. He's also a big fan of rolling over and jumping lots in the door jumper and the jumperoo.





Charlotte has been exploring her artistic side more and more. We're not too sure about the body art, but she seems pretty proud of her artwork. Let's just hope she doesn't start using Ben as a canvas.



I (Bam) had to have my gallbladder removed last week so that was surprising! I am almost 100% recovered and had a lot of help around the house during my down time which was much appreciated. Here's hoping the rest of the year is a bit more calm.

update

Hope everyone had a good holiday! We had a great time. Indiana got a lot of snow while we were gone so Charlotte was excited for that. Ben's been eating more solids lately. Today we tried mango and it was a success. So far we haven't found anything he dislikes. Here's the video:

Mango time!(sorry it's sideways)

Things have been mostly uneventful and laid back. Had a great time in TN for Christmas and rang in the new year down there, as well.

Big Baby

Ben had his 4 month well visit yesterday and he's huge! Upper 95th percentile for height and weight. 17.6lbs and 27" tall. Perfectly proportioned :)





He's having fun grabbing things, squealing, giggling, and of course razzing.

Charlotte just wants to hold him all of the time ;)

Photos

This past weekend we ventured to Chicago. On Sunday we hung out with some friends and these photos are from the get-together. Enjoy!



Lots of Ben photos. Expect prints!

Sibling Love

Charlotte's constantly asking to hold Ben so I finally obliged (supervised, of course).



I think I got pretty lucky because most of the pictures came out like this:



She's a great big sister to "Benny". :)